Chevrolet to add CarPlay support to 14 vehicles for 2016 model year

General Motors' Chevrolet division on Wednesday announced plans to add CarPlay and Android Auto support to 14 vehicles in the 2016 model year, marking a major growth in availability for the two platforms.

One of the first upcoming models to get CarPlay is an upgraded Cruze set to launch on June 24. Other early vehicles with the technologies will include Tahoe and Suburban SUVs, as well as the Volt hybrid, all three of which are entering production in July. Remaining models will rollout over the coming months, among them the Spark, Malibu, Camaro, Corvette, Silverado, and Impala.

As a rule, vehicle trims will have to sport a 7- or 8-inch MyLink display to make use of CarPlay or Android Auto. Only CarPlay will initially be available for both screen sizes however, Auto being constrained to 7-inch screens. Android support should come to 8-inch screens later this year.

Although Chevy has long been listed as a CarPlay partner, it only first demonstrated support for the technology at January's North American International Auto Show. Most car brands in fact continue to lack any kind of CarPlay support, despite the platform launching in March 2014. Vehicles without CarPlay built in can only get it via an aftermarket head unit from companies like Alpine and Pioneer.

At its March 9, 2015 press event, Apple stated that CarPlay will be available on 40 new car models this year. One gap may be Toyota, which in February said that it will stick to in-house technology for the time being. Apple CEO Tim Cook has claimed, however, that "every major" carmaker is now a partner.

Comments

My large extended family typically either buys GM or Toyota. Few of us looking to replace their older Toyota vehicles but with Toyota not supporting Appple's Car-play, first time we will consider Honda who said will support CarPlay. Some of you may say, not a good reason to make decision based on carplay but I buy car every 10 years so I rather have it in my car when replacing than wait another 10 years to get with the next car replacement. I hope Toyota get to senses and follows Ford's strategy to support both Carplay and Android car something.

I can't be the only one waiting for carplay before I buy my next car. I've driven cars with some of the other alternatives and they are brain dead. I listen to a streaming app in the car and it switches to music if I turn my radio up. I haven't even tried car play and I know it won't do something as stupid as that.

Has anyone estimated how big a data plan one will need to provide Carplay features? Hopefully there is an estimate for daily trips to work and back, trips to go shopping, and for long trips of 300 to 500 miles.

As far as auto manufacturers is concerned, CarPlay is vaporware. Just because they claim to have an announcement to support it, doesn't mean anything. Honda claimed their 2014 vehicles would have it, and Apple even used the 2014 Civic interior as a promotional photo. Mid-2015, crickets chirping, none of the Honda models have CarPlay and Honda has no release date in the future. Many vehicles already have USB with iPod/iPhone support with full text and album art display for music. People already use Siri for responding to text messages, and many vehicles can natively read incoming texts. They also use Siri or the vehicle's voice recognition to make calls. Many use portable Nav or in-dash Nav, which will always be more accurate than Apple Maps. So in essence, many vehicles already do the functions that CarPlay will do, without the eye-candy GUI. As the article pointed out, the only hardware that actually has CarPlay is Pioneer or Alpine. People choosing a car because of CarPlay are fools.

As far as auto manufacturers is concerned, CarPlay is vaporware. Just because they claim to have an announcement to support it, doesn't mean anything. Honda claimed their 2014 vehicles would have it, and Apple even used the 2014 Civic interior as a promotional photo. Mid-2015, crickets chirping, none of the Honda models have CarPlay and Honda has no release date in the future. Many vehicles already have USB with iPod/iPhone support with full text and album art display for music. People already use Siri for responding to text messages, and many vehicles can natively read incoming texts. They also use Siri or the vehicle's voice recognition to make calls. Many use portable Nav or in-dash Nav, which will always be more accurate than Apple Maps. So in essence, many vehicles already do the functions that CarPlay will do, without the eye-candy GUI. As the article pointed out, the only hardware that actually has CarPlay is Pioneer or Alpine. People choosing a car because of CarPlay are fools.

Fools? A bit harsh. CarPlay is what Apple is all about...less fiddling with wires, devices, ports, etc. The automobile is the ultimate mobile device and I for one will not buy a car without it. It's like saying in the early 2000's, "I'm not going to buy an iPod, I already have all my music on cassette tapes!" Ugh. Also, the CarPlay you see right now is only the first step by Apple. Try to think of the potential. Anyway, why do I even bother?

Has anyone estimated how big a data plan one will need to provide Carplay features? Hopefully there is an estimate for daily trips to work and back, trips to go shopping, and for long trips of 300 to 500 miles.

I stream radio stations using infinite tunes. I drive 300-500 miles during a normal week and I am usually streaming audio. Also, anytime I leave the house, I am streaming as well. I think the streams are usually 48kbps to 64kpbs. I sometimes go over 3 gigs a month on my data plan but I haven't hit 5 gigs at all this year. Hope that helps.